February 20, 2013

Property Management & Mobile Use

To successfully engage prospects and tenants, you need to speak to them in a language that they not only understand, but also like to use. These days, that language is “mobile.”

From smartphones to iPads, mobile use is on the rise. As tenants continue their love affair with these digital gadgets, property managers need to ensure that their websites are mobile-friendly and that their operations are mobile-ready.

Mobile: A Daily Habit

For most of us, smartphones are part of our daily lives. Among smartphone users:

60% of Canadians have used their smartphone every day within the last seven days.

79% don’t leave home without their smartphone.

93% use smartphones at home and 83% while on the go.

56% access the Internet at least once daily from their smartphone; 70% do so to use email and 51% to use search engines.

57% of Canadians have performed a search on their mobile device after seeing an offline ad (newspaper, television, magazine, etc.).

Mobile Matters

So what does all that mean for your property management business? It’s simple. Mobile improves your relationship with your tenants and maximizes your operations to be more efficient.

Mobile for Tenant Marketing: Prospects use their phones to search for housing options. When you make your website more mobile-friendly, you have a much better chance of turning visitors into residents.

Mobile for Tenant Relationships: Residents don’t necessarily want to speak to someone. They lead busy lives, and calling in to report a leaky faucet or a rent payment is a waste of their time. Tenants want – and even expect – to be able to use smartphones to report maintenance issues and pay rent. To meet that demand, it’s in your best interests to mobilize your operations.

Mobile for Property Teams: On top of attracting new prospects and keeping existing tenants happy, you’ll also be able to streamline internal processes. Property management teams can work more efficiently together by using their smartphones. For instance, a property rep can use their smartphone or tablet during move-out inspections and arrange any maintenance/work orders while on site, saving a huge amount of time. It’s a win-win situation, if ever we saw one.

Mobile for 3rd-Party Vendors: Instead of phone calls and faxes, when your 3rd party vendors, like plumbers and electricians can instantly access work orders and maintenance descriptions via their phones, work gets done faster with fewer mix-ups and errors. (PropertyVista also has a built-in rating system for tenants, so you can evaluate your vendors’ work.)

Mobile for Property Management Sales: Imagine showing your prospective client, a building landlord, all the things your property management company can do while making a presentation in their office. You could use your tablet to log in and demonstrate how tenant maintenance requests and automated rental payments work in real time.

Mobile goes well beyond a “cool factor”, as more and more people rely on their phones it becomes a must. If your company isn’t mobile-ready, you will definitely miss opportunities.

Web based and simple-to-use, PropertyVista offers a suite of online tools designed for landlords and property managers who understand the importance of reducing vacancies, cutting risk and improving cash-flow through strong tenant relations.